West Indies 137 and 54 for 5 (Louis 13, Sajid 4-25) need 197 more runs to bat Pakistan 230 and 157 (Masood 52, Hurraira 29, Warrican 7-32)
The omens were there. The day started with Pakistan’s best spinner losing the first delivery of the day when Saud Shakeel clipped one to mid-wicket. Warrican followed it up with the wicket of Rizwan the next day, and on a pitch where the grip and turns became increasingly variable, Pakistan’s batters found it difficult to work.
Kamran Ghulam had stayed on until then, but an extra over drew his outside edge to give Warrican his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket. West Indies began to dig into the tail as Warrican grew in confidence. He varied his pace to trap Noman Ali in front of the stumps as he attempted a reverse sweep, before making it seven when Sajid missed a work and took the edge to backward point.
The ninth wicket was not recorded directly in Warrican’s account, but it might as well be. Salman Ali Agha pushed him one offside before going for a single, but Warrican recovered cleanly and hit the stumps straight, catching Khurram Shahzad well outside his crease. The innings ended when Salman tried to get the upper hand against Gudakesh Motie, but found himself wide out, and Pakistan were all out for 157.
But West Indies still had around 15 overs to play before lunch, and Pakistan almost ensured victory during this period. The visitors started with a positive intention, having realized that pushing and prodding would get them nowhere. That got them through the first four overs, but as Sajid said after the second day, the strategy was to attack with the ball and defend with the field. Brathwaite used the sweep to good effect so that Pakistan had a fielder at deep mid-wicket, and it was him who the opener picked to give the West Indies their first breakthrough.
With a prodigious turnaround, particularly on the right-hander outside the footmarks, the stumps were still in play, and it helped Sajid clean up Mikyle Louis and Kavem Hodge to reduce West Indies to 37 for 4. Noman, who n surprisingly did not open the score. bowling at the other end, came into the attack and picked up a wicket on the stroke of lunch when Justin Greaves missed a risk-laden sweep past center stump.
Pakistan are halfway to victory in this final innings, and on a surface like this one suspects the other half might follow soon enough.
